This invention relates generally to storage cabinets, and more particularly to a storage cabinet designed for storing compact discs, floppy discs, cassettes and the like.
Storage cabinets for computer discs, compact discs, cassettes and the like are well-known in the art. Reference can be made to any of the U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,736,036 to Mathus, U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,738 to Cobb, U.S. Pat. No. 3,862,787 to Hilsinger, U.S. Pat. No. 3,889,817 to Berkman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,989 to Hultgren, U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,587 to Armijo et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,261 to Nademlejnsky, U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,564 to Price, Sr. et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,043 to Kohler, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,779 to Szenay et al. as representative prior art.
Although several of these patents disclose a rotatable cabinet for storing such articles, e.g., Berkman, Armijo et al., Nademlejnsky, and Szenay et al., each of these patents disclose a lazy Susan-type arrangement which requires a base having a plurality of wheels or bearings which enable the cabinet to rotate relative to the base. This construction is somewhat expensive to construct. There is presently a need for a storage cabinet which is of simple construction for enabling it to rotate about an axis so that a person may quickly and easily access any side of the cabinet.
Moreover, none of these prior art patents disclose a way to lock the articles stored within the cabinet so as to ensure they are adequately safeguarded. While several patents disclose having a door which covers the articles stored in the cabinet, there is no disclosure of being able to lock them within the cabinet. Furthermore, these patents lack any teaching of being able to stack multiple cabinets on top of each other in an interlocking relation.
Accordingly, among the several objects of the present invention are the provision of a storage cabinet for storing articles, such as compact discs, floppy discs, cassettes and the like, therein which is capable of rotating about a stand by means of a thrust bearing; the provision of such a storage cabinet which is simple in design and less costly to manufacture than prior storage cabinets; the provision of such a storage cabinet which is capable of being locked for securing the articles stored therein; the provision of such a storage cabinet which is capable of being stacked and interlocked upon another storage cabinet while still being able to rotate independently relative to one another; the provision of such a storage cabinet having a handle for carrying it by itself or with another storage cabinet when in stacked and interlocked relation; and the provision of such a storage cabinet which is durable in construction and easy to use.
In general, the invention is directed to a storage cabinet for storing articles therein comprising a stand having a base portion adapted to lie on a horizontal surface, and an upright pole extending upwardly along a longitudinal axis from the base portion. A housing of the storage cabinet has a top wall disposed along a horizontal plane, a bottom wall in spaced and parallel relation to the top wall, and means interconnecting the bottom and top walls together. The interconnecting means defines a plurality of storage compartments for receiving articles therein. The bottom wall has means for rotatably mounting the housing on the pole of the stand about the axis. The rotatable mounting means comprises a thrust bearing which is rotatably mounted on the post. The thrust bearing is received within an axial bore formed in the bottom wall of the housing, the bore being defined by an annular wall and an end wall which combine to capture the thrust bearing therein.
More specifically, the storage cabinet further includes a plurality of doors, one for each compartment, which are selectively movable between an open position in which the compartments can be accessed, and a closed position in which the doors block the openings into the compartments. The bottom and top walls of the housing each further comprise a track formed along the outer edge margin of the wall. The tracks receive the plurality of doors therein for guiding the movement of the doors between their open and closed positions. The doors are interconnected to one another by flexible connecting means. The arrangement is such that by moving one door to its closed position, the remaining doors are moved to their closed position. The storage cabinet further comprises means for locking one of the doors in its closed position thereby locking all of the doors in their closed position.